1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video camera having a stroboscopic flash, which permits still photography during a movie photography operation and to a method of photographing a subject with the video camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has recently been widespread a movie camera in view of the fact that a motion picture (hereinafter called a "movie") can easily be photographed. When this type of movie camera is used to take a video of an object or subject during movie photography, there has been a demand for the photography of a desired still picture (hereinafter called a "still") of the object to be photographed. In this case, the still photography becomes frozen or motionless in a short period of time as compared with the movie photography. It is therefore necessary to use a strobe as an illuminating or flashing means in order to correct for insufficient light quantity.
In a conventional camera dedicated to the still photography, the light quantity is measured when a shutter button is half-pressed. When it is desired to automatically illuminate an object with a flashing light from a strobe at the synchronizing frequency in cooperation with underexposure and backlight, the time (hereinafter called "strobe charging time") required to charge the strobe is needed, thereby delaying the shutter timing by the strobe charging time. Thus, when an intended object to be photographed is not fixed, the shutter cannot be released or snapped unless the strobe is fully charged. Therefore, a photographer often misses an opportunity of a shutter operation. In addition, the charging of the strobe at a rapid speed greatly decreases the life of a battery. Furthermore, when the light quantity is measured at all times to avoid the above-described inconvenience, the power consumption of the battery is greatly increased, thereby causing reduced efficiency.
Let's now consider a video camera, which is provided with a still photographing function and a strobe. Under this condition, when it is desired to determine based on the presence or absence of a charging sound of the strobe whether or not the strobe has fully been charged, the movie photography is apt to record the charging sound of the strobe as noise. Further, the provision of a lamp used to indicate the completion of the charging of the strobe in the vicinity of a viewfinder causes inconvenience that the turning on of the lamp should be confirmed while the photographer takes his eyes off the viewfinder during a movie photography operation.